The latest NBA news is interesting: If you win your division, you can hang a banner from the rafters. But that doesn’t mean you are going to the playoffs.
Which begs the question: Why even have divisions? It makes no sense.
Then again, things that make no sense are part of the NBA landscape. Take Andrea Bargnani, for example. He should be playing in Europe. Or China. That has been clear for years and years and years. But the New York Knicks

Last week at the Las Vegas summer league, a 19-year-old, seven-foot rim protector averaged 17.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. It was not Kristaps Porzingis, but Noah Vonleh, who has somehow become Portland’s summer afterthought in spite of his overwhelming potential.
After excelling in Vegas, all Vonleh has to do is try and fill LaMarcus Aldridge’s shoes as the Blazers— who acquired Vonleh and Gerald Henderson from Charlotte in exchange for Nicolas Batum on the night before June’s draft— begin

The dust has pretty much settled on the NBA offseason.
Sure, there’s still a player or two out there and a move or two some teams can make. But for the most part, teams have put together their rosters for the 2015-16 season.
Have any teams in the Eastern Conference improved enough to climb out of the lottery and into the playoffs? And can any team threaten the Cleveland Cavaliers for conference supremacy?
The Sheridan Hoops staff offers its take in this edition

“Fuhgetaboutit!”
That’s what Brooklyn Nets fans were saying on Twitter when the team announced it had agreed to terms with Andrea Bargnani.
Nets fans in Little Italy applauded the move.
The agreement is reportedly a two-year deal for the veteran’s minimum salary, according to the New York Post. The second year of the deal is a player option. Barring a catastrophically bad season, Bargnani would opt out after this season.
Fans of the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks may laugh at the signing,

As many predicted, there was no shortage of trades at the 2015 NBA draft. There just weren’t any big ones.
We were all hoping for a blockbuster like DeMarcus Cousins to the Los Angeles Lakers or the Toronto Raptors detonating their roster. Instead, we may have to wait for the powderkeg of Kings training camp, when George Karl first asks Cousins to show harder on a pick-and-roll.
We even would have settled for a team such as the Celtics or Hawks taking

BROOKLYN — It’s incredible how a building’s mood can change so drastically every five minutes. From the roaring approval for Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell to the acidic, vitriol for the Knicks’ pick of Kristaps Porzingis, nothing satisfies a sports fan’s need for instant gratification like reacting to an NBA draft pick.
But there were great moments behind the scenes that you could not see. A proud multi-generational basketball family sharing a special moment in a back room. A fashion statement that added to

“The Truth” is what Doc Rivers might just need to order for him to finally get the Los Angeles Clippers over the hump.
Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce, aka “The Truth”, is expected to opt out of his $5.5 million player option with the team. David Aldridge of NBA.com is reporting the 10-time All-Star is looking to reunite with Rivers in Los Angeles:
As I reported as likely to happen a couple of weeks ago, Paul Pierce will opt out of his

The Charlotte Hornets are unlikely to keep swingman Matt Barnes after acquiring him with Spencer Hawes in the trade that sent Lance Stephenson to the Clippers, thus making Barnes a probable free agent by the end of the month.
“It is unlikely Charlotte keeps Barnes, who’ll become a free agent,” wrote Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who initially broke news of the trade.
Barnes would be owed $3.5 million for the 2015-16 season should the Hornets keep him, but only $1 million of